Optical fibers are utilized in a variety of fields and applications. While silica optical fibers are generally one of the more frequently known and utilized types of optical fibers, other types of optical fibers are being more frequently investigated and utilized. For example, fluoride optical fibers have recently drawn increasing interest with regard to certain laser operations, such as at wavelengths where silica optical fibers do not perform well.
However, one limitation to the use of fluoride optical fibers is the difficulty in efficiently inject and extract light to or from such optical fibers using silica optical fibers. Although free space and butt coupling have provided acceptable results, consistent and long lasting physical joints between silica and fluoride optical fibers would allow smaller, cheaper, and more robust component manufacturing. However, while low loss splices between silica and fluoride optical fibers have been reported using a traditional splicing approach, the very low mechanical strength of the joint makes it difficult to scale.
Accordingly, improved methods for splicing silica and fluoride optical fibers together are desired in the art. In particular, methods which provide more robust, consistent, and long-lasting joints between such silica and fluoride optical fibers would be advantageous.